Way to the Dawn
by silvermyth
Summary: A narrative exploring Riku's story in the Kingdom Hearts canon. A one-shot, prequel to To World's End.


**A/N:** This one's been rolling around in my head for a bit now. I've always wanted to explore Riku's side of the story, so here it is. It only seemed natural to link it with my other one-shot, **To World's End** , so there it is.

 **Way to the Dawn**

It must've been when he saw the drawing in the Secret Place. Kairi and Sora's crude drawing was still recognizable, the paopu a glaring, mocking yellow that set Riku's teeth on edge. Even with all their playful competitions, Sora had never seemed to get the hint. That was what made Riku feel betrayed, he decided. That was what spurred him to open the door there, just past the scrawled image. The door to darkness, that painful, niggling, _thing_ in his heart. Even he was surprised by the blowback, the tidal wave rolling in to wreak havoc the play island. But he'd wanted to be free of the place, and this was it.

He'd gotten his hopes up when he saw Sora, racing to the beach, when the brunette spotted his silver-haired friend just off the shore, in the face of the growing curl of sea. Riku turned, held out a hand, as Sora came closer, and closer. A gasp of, "We have to save Kairi!" fed the thing that was eating at his heart. Kairi was his friend, but. But. When Sora was torn away, pulled under the water just before their hands met, and didn't resurface, it was like his heart was ripped into shreds.

He was cold when he washed up on a foreign beach. Sora…was he ok? Even if it was Sora and Kairi, he thought maybe it might be ok, just to see his friends again. He could accept seeing the two of them together, maybe. His eyes turned on his new surroundings, an adventure ahead of him, away from the islands, like he'd always dreamt. It was empty, without them.

Maleficent was kind when she found him, as he told her his story. She smiled and patted his head, and he didn't notice when she began manipulating him. He couldn't believe her words at first, but everything she showed him was evidence. Sora…was fine. And he didn't care about Riku. He didn't even care about Kairi. He'd found new friends, from another world. They explored the many worlds, those three, like Sora had meant to do with _Riku_.

That thing at his heart gnawed at him, and grew. He wasn't sure when he succumbed to it. Only that, when he finally realized his mistake, it was too late to fight it. Ansem controlled him, and he could only watch from inside, like a puppet who finally saw the strings on him, and couldn't escape. Could only watch as _Sora_ fought the thing he'd become, and he was consumed by despair. It was only right, he thought, that at the end of it, when he was finally free again, he could set things right, and protect Sora from the tide of darkness, as the door closed. He didn't deserve anything else. Sora would go find Kairi, and be happy, and his last memory of Riku would be this. At least he would have a final say in that.

It was one thing to have one's heart enveloped in darkness, quite another to be in an entire world made from it. It was colder even than when he'd washed up on that distant shore, at the start of it all. It was never-ending. Time didn't exist. It was all just purple and black and cold and ugly. And so very, very lonely.

He wasn't sure how he got there, when he awoke in Castle Oblivion. Something was calling to him, tugging at what remained of his heart. So when he was offered the chance to sleep or seek truth, he chose the latter. Maybe he could redeem himself, after all.

It took King Mickey's help to fight Ansem off, when the Heartless would seek to control Riku again. He fought the Organization. He did it blindfolded, to hide his eyes, and the lies he couldn't tell. He couldn't do it, not after the lies he'd eaten had ruined him.

He fought Roxas.

Number XIII. How he didn't recognize the Nobody at first, he wasn't sure. Maybe it was because he lacked Sora's warmth. The Nobody still had a fire, a determination within him, and he fought with a vigor that matched Sora's. But it was a ruthless vigor, the dual keyblades a horror as they cut through the swarming Heartless. Sora had always done it out of duty, to protect those he called friends, while Roxas…Riku felt a resonating anger from the blond, a fierce joy at venting that rage. It couldn't belong to _his_ Sora.

How he hated the being called Roxas. Even locked away in Twilight Town, old, bitter memories replaced with new, kinder ones. Maybe he hated him even more for that, being offered a second chance, when Riku fought tooth and nail for his own redemption. The stain on his heart would never be erased the way Roxas' memories had been. Maybe he hated him because, while Roxas still existed, Sora continued to sleep, his own memories fragmented by the absence of his other.

Everything he did now was for Sora. He didn't care about what would happen to himself, and anyway, Sora wouldn't want to see him again after all this was over. If it ever ended.

He deserved to be exiled to darkness. He deserved to have his own image melted away in favor of the stronger one of Ansem. No, not Ansem. Xehenart's Heartless. DiZ didn't like the misnomer, it was a blemish on his good name, all his hard work. As if he could be absolved of any blame because he had stopped his experiments early. He had started them, and that was enough.

Riku would rather stay under the wraps of his long, black coat, anyway. Hood up. A mockery of warmth in the corridors of darkness. King Mickey seemed to understand. They worked together to help Sora as he did as his heart directed, and battled the Nobodies and the remainder of the Organization. As Sora pursued Kairi, to make sure she was safe.

Kairi recognized Riku, in his guise, before Sora did. But then, Sora had always been a little air-headed, until he sat down to think about things. Then his mind would run as deep as the ocean reflected in his blue eyes. Riku tried to leave before the brunette could think about it. He didn't want Sora to see what he'd become. Didn't want Sora to see him at all. Sora deserved better. He deserved someone like Kairi, who was still beautiful and innocent and shining, a match for himself. Not Riku.

But it was Sora, and when the warm hand grasped his, he couldn't turn away. Something stirred in Riku's heart when he saw the tears that fell from Sora's eyes, and he thought he knew but wasn't sure what it was. It frightened him, that strong, hot feeling in his heart, and he hid it under the face of the Heartless.

He was surprised when his cloak of darkness sloughed from him, like the dead skin of a snake, when Kingdom Hearts shattered. He hadn't thought he would be himself again. He discarded the black blindfold with change. The Organization was through, so there was no need to don it against them. He had a feeling that Sora could see into his heart even without seeing his eyes, anyway, so it was useless. He wasn't sure why the brunette pocketed the ribbon, a subtle movement that he barely noticed, and then forgot in the battles that followed. It was only later, when he caught him studying it, after the war, that he would wonder about it.

"Don't hold me back!" He teased Sora with that phrase, as if the smaller teen was weaker than him. He'd long ago realized that the opposite was true, but he still hid behind it. The posturing. He had to hide behind something, to get through this.

Even after all the time that had passed since their days on the play island, they found a rhythm together as they fought Xenmas. They moved in tandem against him, driving him back and back with the help of their other friends, and maybe they thought they'd defeated him the first time. But neither of them was surprised when the Nobody came back with a second wind.

They took him on again, just the two of them, and there was a moment when Riku truly thought he would lose Sora, and he fought in desperation against Xenmas, to save him. He couldn't lose Sora, and was sorely injured in saving him. But it didn't matter. It was for Sora. He bit back the pain and fought on, until Xenmas was really, truly defeated. Only then did Riku allow himself to collapse.

They wandered through the corridors of darkness together for some time. It wasn't a place for Sora, but Riku was secretly pleased. At least he wasn't alone now. He was with Sora. He could bear even this place with the brunette at his side. And when they reached the end of the road, it was almost like the play island all over again, with the murky waters lapping the dark beach, the sky a vast blanket over their heads.

There was no longer any need for posturing, hiding, in this place, just the two of them.

Riku wanted to say he was surprised when Sora admitted to the darkness in his own heart, but he'd met Roxas. That other that didn't seem to belong to Sora. It wasn't so bad, now that the two were one again. He couldn't hate something deep within the brunette, not when he wore his own mistakes on his sleeve. And anyway, what did it matter, in this dark world?

It was a bittersweet feeling, when Kairi's note found them. For Riku, the note signaled the end of his refuge, alone with Sora. And of course it would be Kairi's heart that Sora's responded to, to open a door of light. Theirs had always been a bond of light.

But Riku and Sora had a bond of darkness. Somehow, it was deeper. They spent hours together, in silence, sometimes, and sometimes they recounted their personal battles. Because even when he was saving the world, Sora thought his profound thoughts. It was what Riku admired about him, what made the brunette so strong. He could live with this. Even if Sora chose Kairi. He would do it for his friends.

And sometimes, Riku would catch his friend studying the black ribbon he'd cast off, his lips in a pout as he contemplated it, and Riku would feel a spark of hope. Maybe, just maybe, the brunette would see it in his eyes, that which he held in his heart.

Riku would keep following that road to dawn. Maybe someday, the sun of Sora's heart would shine on him.


End file.
